John Smith McKeand 1853 -1937

Unknown, sorry yes it was Jane Smith McKend birth that I looked at. The parents were definately John and Elizabeth. From that record John, the father was 43 so he had married when he was 20. Elizabeth may have been a couple of years younger so not impossible to be having children in the 1850s? Both my mother and my sister didn't have their first child until they were 25 and there is 21 years between the eldest and youngest child of both those marriages.

Dont know if you have this...(Actual Transcripts of case held at Preston Archives)

Rishton Brass Band (Preston)Lancashire Quarter Sessions - Preston, Midsummer 1904 - "Notice and grounds of appeal of Walter Albert Duckworth, weaver, and Secretary of Rishton Brass Band Institute, and Joshua Duckworth, steward, against order that the club be struck off the register of clubs following complaint of John Smith McKeand of Church, superintendent of police" Then, "Order of the Court of Summary Jurisdiction that Rishton Brass Band Institute be struck off the register of clubs for habitually contravening the rules"

Oh dear! Fancy discovering your great grandfather was a party pooper who closed down brass bands! Not sure I want to go on tryin gto find out when and where he was born and who his parents were after that! :-(Am still totally stumpedon establishing any link between the John McKend/Elizabeth McCourtie family and my John Smith McKeand. I can see them living in the right area in 1851 before he was born but no sign of his birth record or of him or the family in later censuses. I'm wondering if you guys are using better search engines or techniques than I am - this Genes Reunited search engine keeps just saying no matches. Very dispiriting!

You should be able to get some info from the site I listed yesterday regarding his service ..appears to be his ?enlistment looking at the dates. Given that his marriage was Reg.Garstang and Mary came from Shirehead I would be looking at that area...His later service appears to be in the Blackburn Const. where he rose through the Ranks to Superintendent

EringobraghThanks for your tips. I have contacted the Lanc Constab about his personnel record, which will cost me £20 but may be interesting. I'm actually quite well informed already about his life post 1873 when he joined manchester police. What I'm stuck on is trying to find out about his earlier life, whether he had siblings, who his parents were etc. And whether the family myth that he walked from Dumfries to Manchester when times were hard (pre or post 1871 census is anyone's guess!) is true. There are other McKeand families in Liverpool some of whom are policemen so I'm trying to work out if they might be relatives - hence the need to track where he started from.Others on this thread have pointed me towards a couple John McKen and Elizabeth McCourtie,who could be his parents, but I can't seem to access the census pages that are being quoted here to check whether the fine detail shows any actual link. Any tips on finding these census pages on Scotlands people (I have some credits!) on Genesreunited or with any better search tool would be gratefully received.

David McKeand is my line, he was born in Borgue, and his 2 brothers were also Policemen in Toxteth Park, his brother James is my 2x Gr. Grandfather and we have his burial in Toxteth Park. James' father was William married to Mary Hair and staying at Senwick, buried at Twynholm, and Williams father was Alexander, which at the moment I am presuming is the Alexander at Upper Senwick in the1841 Census. Alexander was married to Mary Dowall but I have looked for a few years and am convinced John Smith McKeand is related as I find it hard to believe they all went from Kirkcudbrightshire to Liverpool and joined the police force and are not related. I did read somewhere years ago that John Smith McKeand walked from Kirkcudbrightshire to Liverpool but can't remember where I found this info. Will keep digging